METAIRIE, La. (WGNO) – The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention issued a historic warning Monday, asking people not to travel to an America neighborhood; advising pregnant women and their partners to avoid an area just north of Miami, Florida where the Zika virus is actively circulating.
That has raised Zika concerns locally.
Mosquito Control officials say they have found yellow fever and asian tiger mosquitoes in Southeast Louisiana and some counties in Mississippi and Georgia. Those types of mosquitoes are capable of carrying Zika.
Those areas include the Southeastern Louisiana parishes of Jefferson, St. John, St. Charles, St. James, Lafourche, Terrebonne, and the city of Thibodaux as well as Hancock and Jackson Counties in Mississippi and Glynn County, Georgia.
Mosquito experts said they are closely monitoring the mosquito population. In Jefferson Parish, they looked at hundreds of sites, and more than half have shown mosquitoes capable of carrying Zika.
But so far, there have been no locally transmitted Zika case reported in Louisiana.
What should you do?
- Mosquito experts said at the very least, eliminate containers and breeding sites around the home.
- Help neighbors who can’t dump containers for themselves.
- Check gutters, dog bowls, tires, kid wagons and toys, tarps, bird baths, cups or pail.
- It takes 5 to 7 days for a mosquito to go from egg to an adult.
Mosquito experts also encourage pregnant women to stay indoors and in air-conditioned areas as much as they can, especially around dusk, dawn or in shaded areas during the day.